Sirach 2

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 My son, when you come to serve the LORD, prepare yourself for trials.	1 Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation.
2 Be sincere of heart and steadfast, undisturbed in time of adversity.	2 Humble thy heart, and endure: incline thy ear, and receive the words of understanding: and make not haste in the time of clouds.
3 Cling to him, forsake him not; thus will your future be great.	3 Wait on God with patience: join thyself to God, and endure, that thy life may be increased in the latter end.
4 Accept whatever befalls you, in crushing misfortune be patient;	4 Take all that shall be brought upon thee: and in thy sorrow endure, and in thy humiliation keep patience.
5 For in fire gold is tested, and worthy men in the crucible of humiliation.	5 For gold and silver are tried in the fire, but acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation.
6 Trust God and he will help you; make straight your ways and hope in him.	6 Believe God, and he will recover thee: and direct thy way, and trust in him. Keep his fear, and grow old therein.
7 You who fear the LORD, wait for his mercy, turn not away lest you fall.	7 Ye that fear the Lord, wait for his mercy: and go not aside from him, lest ye fall.
8 You who fear the LORD, trust him, and your reward will not be lost.	8 Ye that fear the Lord, believe him: and your reward shall not be made void.
9 You who fear the LORD, hope for good things, for lasting joy and mercy.	9 Ye that fear the Lord, hope in him: and mercy shall come to you for your delight.
10 Study the generations long past and understand; has anyone hoped in the LORD and been disappointed? Has anyone persevered in his fear and been forsaken? has anyone called upon him and been rebuffed?	10 Ye that fear the Lord, love him, and your hearts shall be enlightened.
11 Compassionate and merciful is the LORD; he forgives sins, he saves in time of trouble.	11 My children behold the generations of men: and know ye that no one hath hoped in the Lord, and hath been confounded.
12 Woe to craven hearts and drooping hands, to the sinner who treads a double path!	12 For who hath continued in his commandment, and hath been forsaken? or who hath called upon him, and he despised him?
13 Woe to the faint of heart who trust not, who therefore will have no shelter!	13 For God is compassionate and merciful, and will forgive sins in the day of tribulation: and he is a protector to all that seek him in truth.
14 Woe to you who have lost hope! what will you do at the visitation of the LORD?	14 Woe to them that are of a double heart and to wicked lips, and to the hands that do evil, and to the sinner that goeth on the earth two ways.
15 Those who fear the LORD disobey not his words; those who love him keep his ways.	15 Woe to them that are fainthearted, who believe not God: and therefore they shall not be protected by him.
16 Those who fear the LORD seek to please him, those who love him are filled with his law.	16 Woe to them that have lost patience, and that have forsaken the right ways, and have gone aside into crooked ways.
17 Those who fear the LORD prepare their hearts and humble themselves before him.	17 And what will they do, when the Lord shall begin to examine?
18 Let us fall into the hands of the LORD and not into the hands of men, For equal to his majesty is the mercy that he shows.	18 They that fear the Lord, will not be incredulous to his word: and they that love him, will keep his way.
	19 They that fear the Lord, will seek after the things that are well pleasing to him: and they that love him, shall be filled with his law.
	20 They that fear the Lord, will prepare their hearts, and in his sight will sanctify their souls.
	21 They that fear the Lord, keep his Commandments, and will have patience even until his visitation,
	22 Saying: If we do not penance, we shall fall into the hands of the Lord, and not into the hands of men.
	23 For according to his greatness, so also is his mercy with him.